3 to 4:30pm. Weather: cold, grey, windy.
From Cantley I headed back down the road to Buckenham where I hoped to walk to the hide & back for the roost in the remaining light. Unfortunately I'd overestimated the time left & as the light faded I walked just to the riverbank.
Barn Owl - I was alerted to an 'owl' almost as soon as I started walking the path, & was treated to a nice close-up view as it rapidly quartered the field & crossed the path before flying back & away behind the copse.
Snipe - put up by the barn owl, it flew quickly away.
Greylag Goose - several scattered about the marshes feeding, but also large skeins in the distance beyond the hide. There may have been some white-fronts in the skeins but I couldn't pick out any lightness about the bill in the poor light.
Canada Goose - a large flock feeding in the middle of the marshes.
Mute Swan - a few also feeding on the marshes.
Taiga Bean Goose - I almost immediately noticed another group of geese, that I was now fairly familiar with. I enjoyed more views of another approx. 20 as they fed on the marshes, marginally closer than the ones I'd seen on Cantely Marshes.
Wigeon - very large flocks, whistling & many feeding close to the path, unpeturbed by the people who were about.
Marsh Harrier - one female.
Linnet - 6 at first but then over 20 flying back & forth above the scrub adjacent to the path. When I returned from the riverbank I heard a cacophony of their gentle chirping from what appeared to be a significant roost.
Kestrel - whizzed through.
Mallard, Woodpigeon, Fieldfare, Pheasant (heard).
Jackdaw & Rook - by now it was dark & I could see distant flocks beginning to gather, as 'advertised'. I left the reserve, evidently the copse of trees on the reserve is not the roost, & headed up the hill from the train station as the flocks grew & grew into a swirling mass above the trees over Buckenham village. The amazing sight has been described far better than I can manage here but it was hugely impressive as flights of corvids swept in overhead from various parts of the countryside to join the roiling mass above the trees. The sound of their calling was such that individual calls soon became indistiguishable & the cumulative affect was of a sound like water bubbling over gravel. The awesome sight & sound continued above the treeline for 10 minutes or so before the flock eventually began to settle. Soon there were none left in the air but the calling carried on for minutes more before that also began to diminish. An incredible sight & one that several other people had ventured out to see, & one I'd like to see again someday.
After the north Norfolk coast this is my favourite area of the county, well worth the drive, a gem of a spot with special wildlife.
16 species.
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